Aussie mum’s angry 4am Olympics rant after Paris nightmare

An Australian bronze medallist’s mum has taken to Facebook to share one of the most shattering messages of the Olympics so far.

Ashley Moloney. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)

Ash Moloney’s mum has taken to Facebook to share one of the most shattering messages of the Olympics so far.

Alyson Moloney watched in agony as her son pulled out of the men’s decathlon on Saturday morning after succumbing to an adductor injury three events into the competition.

Moloney was fifth overall after the opening 100m sprints, but struggled in the long jump and shot put.

He was in 19th overall position when he made the brutal decision to abandon his campaign. The reigning Olympics bronze medallist famously charged to the finish line in the 1500m event in Tokyo with the help of fellow Aussie Cedric Dubler three years ago.

His withdrawal caps a wretched few years for the 24-year-old.

Moloney recently conceded he had made a “dog’s breakfast” of his qualification campaign while battling injuries.

It was all too much to overcome in Paris.

He finished in the bottom few in the long jump and then last in the shot put.

Seeing her son quit the competition was difficult enough for Alyson Moloney, but the circumstances added another layer to her heartbreak.

Ashley Moloney competes in the men's decathlon long jump. Photo by Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP.

“It’s 4am in Paris and I can’t sleep,” she wrote on Facebook.

“I am so heartbroken for my son. His first concern was for me and how much it cost, but money can be replaced, he can’t be. What’s more heartbreaking is the media. One person points out that he missed a few decaths and that’s what they run with. It happens.

“Blame the dodgy chicken not the athlete. They don’t know....... (Which is 2 years of BS I can’t mention) And they don’t know that he trains 6 out of the 7 days a week to sheer exhaustion, stripped back all his events including changing lead legs in hurdles and I’m absolutely sure they would have no idea that he came 4th at Gotzis, and won at the National Championships and the Oceania Championships since then.

“Why get in the way of a good story. To finish off with, good luck to all our amazing athletes and especially our multi event athletes.”

Ashley Moloney on the State de France track. Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images.

On the eve of the Games, Ash Moloney had made the concession that he had to adjust his mentality after a string of injuries.

“Being young and naive I thought I was bullet proof,’’ he said.

“Now I have a much more stable training environment and procedures that I go through every single day.

“Before it was just go harder, harder, harder, keep going until something breaks and then just pick yourself up and do the same thing.

“After Tokyo I was busted. I couldn’t walk properly as it was an all-or-nothing sort of effort. Then I got to the world indoors (in 2022) and competed well but I really hurt myself in the high jump.

“The knee which I had hurt in Tokyo, I did it worse and gave myself a little tear in the patella. After that it was kind of the same thing over and over. That was when I had five consecutive competitions in a row where I had to pull out because of my knee.”